Scottish transport group Midland Bluebird has announced the addition of 30 new zero-emission electric single-decker buses to its fleet operating across the Forth Valley.
The new buses, which have been supplied by Pelican Bus + Coach, mark a 14 million GBP investment into the decarbonisation within the public transport sector which has been supported by the Scottish Government through the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB).
The Yutong E12 vehicles are capable of carrying up to 70 passengers and feature air conditioning, USB charging sockets and are equipped with 422kWh capacity batteries.
Ian Downie, Head of Yutong UK, said:McGills were the very first Scottish operator to order our electric vehicles – this order will bring their total Yutong fleet to 125 single decks in operation. We have been delighted to maintain and grow our partnership over the past few years. The new Midland Bluebird vehicles have a superb internal and external styling that clearly demonstrates the continued investment that McGill’s Group places into the community.
The whisper quiet vehicles will soon be gliding around the Midland Bluebird network and providing clean, zero emission travel for the local residents.
Upgrades have also been made to Midland Bluebird’s Larbert depot in order to facilitate the maintenance and charging of the new vehicles.
The new vehicles have now entered service on the operator’s 38 Falkirk to Stirling service, with the daytime frequency of the service now increasing to every 15 minutes, Monday to Saturday.
With the purchase of the new vehicles; parent company McGill’s Group now operates 151 electric buses with a total investment thus far of 95 million GBP.
Tony Williamson, Chief Executive of McGill’s Group, said:We’re excited to launch these cutting-edge electric buses on the busy Midland Bluebird 38 service linking Falkirk and Stirling, where passengers will soon benefit from an increased daytime frequency of every 15 minutes, Monday to Saturday, starting this week.
With this investment, McGill’s continues to operate one of the UK’s largest electric bus fleets, reinforcing our leadership in the shift to zero-emission public transport across Scotland.
This rollout reflects the vision of our owners, Sandy and James Easdale, whose ongoing commitment to sustainable travel is helping us deliver a greener network and a better experience for the communities we serve.
The charging infrastructure for the new vehicles has been provided by Zenobē, with its ScotZEB 2 consortium committed to the deployment of over 250 zero-emission vehicles and the creation of a shared charging infrastructure across Scotland
Julia Meek, Business Development Director at Zenobē, said:Zenobē is proud to support Midland Bluebird with the launch of 30 zero-emission single-decker buses across the Forth Valley, continuing our work with McGill's group to bring a fleet of more than 150 electric buses to Scotland.
As leader of the ScotZEB 2 consortium and fleet electrification provider for the Larbert depot, we remain committed to delivering electrification on time and within budget, connecting communities across Scotland with cleaner, smoother journeys.
